For the Love of a Woman
by scorpion22
Summary: One night Gazoo hears Fred and Barny fighting with their wives and it brings back his own memories of a time when he did the same. He decides to teach them a lesson that having the love of a woman is a sacred blessed thing. When he transports them to another universe to get his lesson across will they learn, or be blind to it. This is an AU fic and the rating may change.
1. Chapter 1

This story was requested by retro mania. I plan to put my own little spin on it, but I hope you like it all the same. I own nothing, but please read on and review too.

Chapter 1

Fighting could be heard from blocks away. It was coming from the Flintstone and Rubble homes, and while this wasn't unusual tonight it seemed louder than it ever had before. The two houses seemed to glow bright on that particular night and then suddenly a little green figure was floating in-between the two homes. It was Gazoo. As he listened to the happenings inside he shook his head rolling his eyes irritated. Gazoo could hear his two inbaciles inside their homes fighting with their wives and he didn't understand why. He knew that couples fought, it was normal, and then he remembered all the fights he had shared with his better half. If only he could take back all the harsh words he had said. Glinda hadn't wanted him to go on this journey, the journey that brought him here, but he hadn't listened. And now he was stuck here; he would never see her again. Thinking about those fights again he remembered how they had been over something trifle. His two inbaciles were making the same mistakes he had. Their fights right now were over something trifle, something meaningless. They didn't realize how lucky they were. If he could be in there place right at that moment he would have.

"I wish I'd never married you. I should have stayed unmarried and happy then I wouldn't have to ask permission to go do anything," screamed Fred then Barny seconds later. Gazoo heard this, he heard this, and it angered him. They truly were idiots, inbaciles; they had no idea how truly blessed they were. And in that moment he wanted to make them see; he wanted to make them realize what he knew now before it was too late. That the love of a woman was a precious, sacred thing that they were extremely lucky to have in their lives. Then he realized he could show them, he could make them see, and as an idea formed in his head the two men exited their homes meeting in-between. Gazoo didn't notice them nor did they notice him. He knew he had to do this even though his idea was mean nasty in many ways, he knew it would show them how truly blessed they were.

"All they ever do is order us around," growled Fred looking down at Barny.

"I know, I think that's the only reason they married us sometimes," whispered Barny neither of them noticing they were being watched by the little alien. Gazoo didn't say a word his plan fully formed and it wasn't until they finally looked at him that he snapped his fingers. And then everything changed. Before the two men could do anything even scream everything fell away around them and their entire lives changed. The next thing the two men knew, they were standing in front of a large house the size of both of theirs combined, and turning they found Gazoo hovering next to them.

"What just happened?" breathed Barny not looking away from the massive house for a long time. When he finally looked at Fred he could tell he had the same question and not saying a word finally their eyes fell on Gazoo. He had to have something to do with this there was no way he wasn't involved.

"I am helping you two idiots when I really shouldn't. You said you wanted to be unmarried, you wanted to be free, and so I brought you to a place where you are. In this universe, you can have what you want. If that is what you truly want, if not then I'm afraid you're stuck," smiled Gazoo simply.

"What. Did. You. Do." growled Fred his face red with anger.

"Go find out for yourself," said Gazoo before disappearing before their eyes. The two men looked at each other before Fred moved towards the house.

"Barny," screamed Fred turning to still find his friend standing there an indescribable look on his face. He continued to stand there at first, but then he nodded mutely quickly following him up the walkway to the door.

"What do you think is on the other side of that door," asked Barny looking at Fred a scared look in his eyes.

"I don't know, but there's only one way to find out," answered Fred as they both raised their hands to knock. And when the door finally opened, the woman on the other side made their jaws drop. This had to be some sick joke Gazoo was playing, this wasn't possible; what they were seeing couldn't be real.

There stood a woman who looked exactly like Wilma, but also exactly like Betty.

"Fred, are you seeing this?" whispered Barny so low he almost didn't hear him as he continued to stare at the woman. Fred didn't say a word only nodding as he stared too. The woman stared straight back at them an expectant look on her face. But all they could do was stare at her in that moment; it was like their wives had been molded into one.

"Can I help you," asked the woman finally looking at the both of them still.

"Yeah, sorry about that, but you look like…never mind. I'm Fred, this here is Barny, and who would you be," exclaimed Fred his words rushed as he tried to stay calm pointing to Barny as he introduced him. He was still standing there staring at her completely speechless.

"Ok…I'm Wilma…Wilma Rubble. Why are you in front of my house knocking on my door," whispered the woman a suspious look in her eyes. But before Fred could answer her or even think up an answer to give her he heard a crash. And when he looked down he found Barny on the ground out cold. He had fainted.


	2. Wilma Rubble

I own nothing.

Chapter 2

When Barny woke up the first thing he saw was Fred staring down at him a worried expression filling his eyes. He thought back to everything he could remember before he blacked out. He remembered fighting with Betty, he remembered falling into what appeared to be another world with Fred, and he remembered meeting the woman who called herself Wilma Rubble. He remembered it all, but he couldn't make sense of any of it. None of it could be real of that he was sure, but yet he thought; it had been so real. It had felt so real. But shaking his still aching head, he knew it couldn't be; it all had to be a dream. It had to be a dream; he hoped it was a dream. He was really beginning to believe that as he sat up finally smiling at Fred. Barny was sure that Betty must have hit him on the bed before kicking him out the night before that was all this was. But as he looked at Fred he didn't understand the look on his face. He had never seen anything like it before.

"I had the strangest dream, Fred. You wouldn't believe it, we were in some other world, and Betty and Wilma were the same person. Isn't that funny," said Barny laughing just slightly expecting Fred to do the same, but his face remained as hard as granite stone. Barny stared at him then beginning to shake his head once again denying any of it was true. In his mind he saw the woman, Wilma Rubble, and shaking his head still he denied it. Fred was just playing on his paranoia; none of this was true; it wasn't possible, not in the slightest. But the fact that her image wouldn't leave his mind didn't help, it only made it worse. The woman from his dream, she had looked so much like Betty, but so much like Wilma. The resemblance was incredible, amazing really, but it couldn't be true. He sat in silence trying to convince himself of that, but the more he thought the more unsure he became. Barny let himself look at Fred again, he needed some reassurance, and he was the only one who could give it. But his face hadn't changed. He wasn't laughing it off as a dream, or a joke. His face was as grayly pale as it had ever been. Fred was scared, Barny could see it in his coal black eyes, and that scared him. Fred didn't get scared. Fred was the strong one.

"Fred was all that real?" whispered Barny receiving no answer except for a silence that seemed to confirm it all by itself.

"Fred, did that really happen?" exclaimed Barny his voice rising.

"Is he alright?" came another voice from the next room once again answering his question. Both their eyes moved in the direction of the voice and at that exact moment she entered the room. The very woman from his dream, the very woman who looked like both of their wives, she entered the room, and Barny felt his heart give out. Barny stared at her as Fred did the same his eyes as wide as saucers. He tried without success to explain it, but there was no way this could be explained. And when that finally took root in his brain Barny couldn't stop himself he screamed. He screamed his lunges out. If it hadn't of been for Fred placing his hand over his mouth, Barny was sure he wouldn't of stopped. He couldn't believe what was happening, what he was seeing he couldn't, he didn't know any other way to respond. More than that, he couldn't understand how Fred could be so calm. They were in some other world with a woman right in front of them who looked like their wives, both of them, at the same time; why wasn't he screaming too? But Fred saw things very differently. He knew screaming would get them nowhere and looking at the woman he saw the look of alarm she wore. He knew he had to calm Barny down because they needed to get answers and they would get none like this.

They both felt the anxiety of the passing events, neither of them knew what to make of what was happening. But as Fred tried to calm Barny down he knew they needed to remain calm until they knew what was happening.

"Is he alright? Do you need me to call someone?" asked Wilma Rubble moving backwards toward the kitchen where the phone was located.

"No, no don't call anyone. Everything's fine, he just hit his head is all, when he fell," exclaimed Fred not wanting to risk meeting anyone else in this place before they knew more. She still looked hesitant as her eyes wondered back and forth between Barny and him. He couldn't blame her for that especially the way Barny was acting. In the moment if Fred told the truth he was afraid of two things. One that if he let go of Barny he would keep screaming and two that if he upset this woman that she might have Wilma's temper. He knew he didn't want to have to deal with either of those things so as she entered another room he quickly turned to Barny. Barny was still freaking out his screaming muffled by his hand. Little sounds were all that was heard, but as he clamped his hand firmly over his face even that was muffled.

"Barn, calm down! Now when I let go you're going to remain quiet. I don't want to hear a peep out of you, do you understand?" whispered Fred watching as for a while he only stared back his chest heaving as he did as he was told. Finally when he was as quiet as he knew he would get Fred uncovered his mouth.

"Fred, where are we!" exclaimed Barny his voice much higher than it needed to be causing Fred to cover his mouth again.

"Barny, would you shut up for a minute. Just shut up and listen to me," snapped Fred not uncovering his friend's mouth this time.

" Hunmm….huhhh," mumbled Barny with his mouth covered trying to free himself from Fred's grasp, but it proved impossible for him. When he finally stopped his struggling, Barny focused completely on Fred; he didn't really have any other choice.

"I don't know what is happening here, Barn. I don't know what Gazoo's got us into, but we know if anything that we have to act normal. We have to act as normal as possible, it won't do us any good to get arrested in a strange place like this. We can't be scaring this woman, we can't let her know that we're not from here, not until we find Gazoo, do you understand that?" explained Fred waiting a long time for Barny to nod his agreement before uncovering his mouth.

The two men looked at each other neither of them saying a word. The events of the day kept repeating in their heads and all they wanted in that moment was to be able to explain it. But as hard as they tried they couldn't. Not by themselves. When Wilma Rubble entered the room again, they almost didn't notice, but her soft clearing of the throat drew them to her. She was what they didn't understand more than anything else. Why did she look like both their wives? They were bewildered by that most of all and they were sure it showed in their eyes when they looked at her. Wilma Rubble, even her name was a mix up of the women they loved. She had Wilma's first name and Betty's last name. But it wasn't just that. For she also had a mix up of both their wives beauty; she was beautiful, so beautiful she made them long for the women she was a hybrid of. Just looking at her made them feel a pang of guilt and deep sadness in their hearts.

The last words they had said to Wilma and Betty had been so mean. They hadn't really meant any of it, but neither of them knew if they knew that. Fred and Barny loved their wives; they hoped they knew that, but what if they didn't. And looking at this woman, Wilma Rubble, a sudden thought entered their minds hurting them even more. If this woman, this mix up of their two loves existed in this world, did that mean their Wilma and Betty didn't. They didn't like the idea of that. They didn't like the idea of a world where they didn't exist.

"Um…fellas, is everything alright now?" whispered Wilma drawing them from their thoughts. It hadn't been lost on her the way they had been staring at her. It had really creeped her out and in that moment all Wilma wanted was to get them out of her house. But it wasn't just the way they looked at her.

For some reason that Wilma didn't understand these two men didn't feel like strangers. They didn't feel like strangers at all, they felt so familiar.

"Yes, we're alright now," smiled Fred and she didn't miss the tears shining in both their eyes.

"Good, I'm glad," smiled Wilma in return feeling a shiver as they both continued to stare unabashedly at her.

"Can I get you two anything, water, juice…I can even call someone for you?" continued Wilma not understanding any of her feelings in that moment. For some reason when they looked at her she felt warmth that seemed to spread throughout her entire body. She had never felt anything like it before.

To Wilma, it was like they couldn't take their eyes off her. And that was exactly the problem. They couldn't take their eyes off of her. She looked so much like their wives it was amazing and as much as they didn't understand it, still they were transfixed by her. To them, it felt like the way they had felt when they first met their wives. For she looked so much like them; she was beautiful just like them. Both men couldn't help, but stare at her searching for bits and pieces of their wives in her. For she had Wilma's flame red hair, but she adorned it with Betty's simple white bow. She had Betty's soul piercing brown chocolate eyes, but deep within them Wilma's fiery attitude couldn't be missed. As Fred looked into them they nearly choked him with their intensity just like Wilma's had done the first time their eyes met.

"Fella's are you alright? You keep staring at me," exclaimed Wilma peering back at them a hint of fear lingering in her brown depths.

"Yes, we're fine. We just…" began Fred before she stopped him with a raised hand looking down at the ground seeming very nervous all of a sudden.

"Um…I'm sorry to be rude, but if your friends alright I'll have to ask you to leave," said Wilma finally their staring still not ceasing. It still warmed her body increasingly, but it was also starting to make her uncomfortable. So uncomfortable that all she wanted was to have them out of her house as soon as possible.

"Please, just leave," continued Wilma when they didn't move. She just didn't know what to make of them and until she did she didn't want them around. But a mere second after she spoke she noticed as their faces fell as they registered what she had said. For some reason she instantly felt bad for hurting them and like everything else she didn't understand why.

"Yeah, sure," sighed Fred standing, pulling Barny along with him to the door.

Barny didn't want to leave and neither did he, but Fred could see it in her eyes. They were scaring her and that was the last thing he wanted to do. So without a word he pushed his friend out the door, they had more important things to do then stare at her. They had to find a way to get home. Home to the real Wilma and the real Betty.

"Fred, what are we doing? We can't just leave," exclaimed Barny following Fred down the block on foot.

"Yes Barn, we have to, for now. This isn't our world; we have to get back home, so that means we have to find Gazoo. He brought us here he can take us back," exclaimed Fred his face red with anger at the mere thought of the little green monster.

"But where do we even begin to look?" said Barny instantly looking back at the house they had just left until it was out of view.

"I don't know, all I know is we have to find him," growled Fred his anger in his eyes now telling Barny to just go along with him.


	3. Gazoo's challenge

Chapter 3

The two guys soon learned that this Bedrock was just like theirs.

"At least this will make it easier to find Gazoo," said Barny as the search began both thinking they would find him right away then, but that was not the way it was because they couldn't find him. They looked in all the usual places, the places where Gazoo had popped up before, but the little green guy disappeared. The day passed and it wasn't until late in it that they stopped searching. Gazoo could be gone. The thought was in both their heads that maybe he'd left them there, but neither of them wanted to believe that. Neither of them wanted to be stuck there.

"What now, Fred?" whispered Barny as they sat on a park bench side by side looking to his friend for the answers like he always did.

Without Gazoo, they were stuck there. Their Wilma, their Betty, they would never see them again. Wilma would never yell at Fred again something he never thought he would miss until then. Betty would never kiss Barny on the cheek as he left for work again and letting tears fall he shook his head. He never thought he would have to miss that; he had never pictured a life without her. But there were others too. Others that they would never see again like Pebbles and Bambam. They were stuck and they didn't know what to do.

"Answer me, Fred. What do we do now?" exclaimed Barny watching his friend very closely now. But Fred didn't say a word. He seemed to be deep in thought and Barny could guess his thoughts were the same as his. And for a moment Barny wondered if maybe, for the first time in his life, if Fred didn't know what to do any more than he did. It was that thought that scared the hell out of him because Fred always knew what to do, always.

Looking at him, he hoped he would suddenly have the answer to all this like he always did. But what Barny didn't know was that Fred's thoughts were the same as his only different. Fred couldn't stop thinking of it all. Of his life before and he found himself regretting so much. If he could go back to change it all, he would. Fred remembered in that moment every fight Wilma and he had ever had. He remembered all the words, such cruel words, he had said to her, and he hated himself for it. In that moment, all he wanted was to take it all back, and replace them with I love yous. Maybe then they wouldn't even be in this situation. Only now was he realizing just how mean he could be to Wilma sometimes. He wanted to take it all back now and replace those mean words with something else.

Fred wanted to go back and tell Wilma how much he loved her.

"I don't know, Barny. I think we might be stuck…I don't know what to do without Gazoo…we're stuck here," said Fred his words softer than they had ever been before. His eyes fell on Barny then as he released a scream loud enough to make the people around them stare. Suddenly he was up off the bench moving around in circles. Fred knew it was his way of processing it all.

"No, Fred, no. This can't be happening…we have to get home. What about Wilma and Betty…our Wilma and Betty…what will they think if we suddenly just disappear? We have to keep trying," said Barny near tears. He looked down on Fred in that moment his eyes and his voice pleading for a sudden miracle, but Fred had no answers. Fred had not response even as much as he wished he did. He only sat there, for a long time that was what he did, until finally he stood up his voice dying in his throat. He didn't know what to do and he hated to tell it to Barny almost as much as he hated to admit it to himself.

"I don't know anything, Barn. I don't know…Gazoo was our only hope…and he's gone," whispered Fred watching the anger cross Barnies features almost immediately.

"You can't just give up, Fred. If you do…you're not just giving up on us getting home. You're giving up on Wilma. I thought you loved her more than that," snapped Barny turning away from Fred then quickly walking away to someplace he didn't have the idea of yet. But Fred didn't let him. He was right behind him and he didn't let him go far. Fred suddenly grabbed him from behind hitting him square across the jaw. And he didn't stop there. He kept on hitting him finding himself in a sudden rage at his words. Barny couldn't even raise a fist. Fred had him pinned. He just kept hitting him over and over and even when Fred found himself wanting to stop he found he couldn't.

"Don't you even say I don't love Wilma because I do. She means the world to me…but I don't have all the answers. I can't all the time," exclaimed Fred finally letting Barny get a hit in. Suddenly they were both on their feet and still hitting each other. That continued until Barny suddenly plowed into him knocking him to the ground. All while they were fighting they didn't know they were being watched. Gazoo was just above them watching the entire altercation.

"There's nothing you could do either," growled Fred receiving a hit in the head seconds later.

"At least I'm willing to try. I'm not just giving up…like you," said Barny from between gritted teeth. Fred quickly flung him away in that moment and it was then they saw him. It was then that they saw Gazoo hovering like an innocent little fly above them.

"Hello, Dumdums…having fun?" whispered Gazoo giving them one of his tiny smiles. The two men just stared at him for a moment not really believing he was there. After they had looked for him all day and there he was just popping in on them out of nowhere. After processing that only then did they jump to their feet.

"Where the hell have you been?" growled Fred getting into the little alien's face.

"I've been here all along Dumdum. You just couldn't see me," said Gazoo giving him a look as if it really were that simple. But Fred was not in the mood for Gazoo's attitude today. The little green menace was going to take them back to their wives and he was going to do it right now. Before the alien could pop away, Fred grabbed him holding him tight as he stared him down. For a moment, Gazoo looked afraid, but he only let them see it for a moment. He then was right back to acting like the little bastard that he was.

"Take us home, Gazoo. Take us back to our wives right now or I'll hurt you so bad you won't be able to pop nowhere," snapped Fred tightening his grip on the alien. But just as he did so Fred found his hands empty. There was no Gazoo and looking at Barny they started to look for him again. Again, they couldn't find him, but then like before he appeared out of nowhere. This time though he kept his distance.

"Gazoo take us home," snapped Barny reaching for the little green man.

"No, Dumdums. I will not watch you put those two women through hell anymore. You will learn how to be real men here," snapped Gazoo making them both reach for him. As they did the two men considered everything he had said and though they knew he was right they didn't want him to be. They did put their wives through hell.

"If you want to go home you'll have to earn it," said Gazoo making them stop to look at him.

"How the hell do you expect us to do that?" snapped Fred knowing there would be a catch. Gazoo in his usual annoying way only smiled at them as they stared up at him.

"That woman, the one who looks like your wives…she is both melded together. She has bits and pieces of both. If you want to go home to your real wives you must make that woman fall in love with one of you," whispered Gazoo making them both just stare at him.

"We'd be cheating on our wives," exclaimed Barny.

"Not technically," said Gazoo quickly. The two men looked at each other, but then Fred took a breath.

"Alright, Barn, this will be easy. I'll go back, make her fall in love with me, and we'll go home," whispered Fred talking more to himself then Barny, but Barny heard him nonetheless.

"Why you? She's part Betty too, she could fall for me," said Barny. Fred stopped giving him a condescending look.

"Yes, but I want to go home soon. It'll take you forever, but me, being the better catch it'll take me no time at all," said Fred smiling. But then Barny hit him in the back of the head.

"We can both try, Fred, but I guarantee she'll fall in love with me first," snapped Barny. He didn't say anything more. Fred watched him walk away and through he didn't want it to be he knew they were now at war.


	4. Going to War

I own nothing.

Chapter 4

From the moment those two men appeared in Wilma's life there was only one thing she knew for sure. Her life changed and didn't change back. As the change was happening, she didn't know what exactly to make of it, and most of all she didn't know why it was happening, why it was happening to her or what to do about it. She didn't know that the two men she didn't even know were warring for her.

"Where did they come from?" the question repeated in her mind throughout their battle even as love that she didn't understand bloomed in her heart. Wilma didn't even know when the war began. She only knew that one day, she was an ordinary woman living her life until one day they appeared. Fred and Barny changed everything making her suddenly not so ordinary, but a pursued woman. And it all began with silent tokens of their affection. Not many people knew Wilma's favorite flower that was why she was so surprised one day when a bouquet of them arrived on her doorstep. Hibiscus roses, each long red petal alive with bloom, and attached was a card. A card that told her they were from Barny Rubble, the last person she would have ever expected.

Wilma accepted them with a smile and carrying them into the house she just looked at them. They were amazing. Each one seemed to be almost perfect as they sat in their crystal vase a small note hidden within the petals. Whoever wrote it had terrible chicken scratch handwriting, but she could read their words nonetheless.

"I enjoyed meeting you yesterday. Sorry if I scared you" read the words written in deep chicken scratch filling her with terror at first sight even as she gazed at the name at the bottom uncertainly. The name at the bottom eased her mind though, it said Barny; who was Barny? He was just a vague memory at first. The name was familiar, but at first Wilma just couldn't place it until suddenly she did. The little man who had fainted and lay passed out on her couch. He had sent her flowers. Her favorite flowers too. She didn't know why but looking at the note then the flowers she smiled anyway. She would have expected something like this from the other one, but not him. It made her think she shouldn't be so judgmental. Barny. She thought of him as he lay passed out on the couch. He had seemed so harmless and now she wondered if he was. Or if maybe there was more to him then met the eye?

He had sent her flowers, how sweet, and setting them directly in front of her window, Wilma didn't think about or even notice Fred outside. He too was carrying a bouquet of flowers. Fred had stood outside as the delivery boy gave her the flowers knowing the whole time that they were from Barny. The little guy had out done him and staring at her through the window watching as she enjoyed his flowers, Fred felt lost. His shoulders slumped and feeling completely dejected, Fred quietly left his flowers on her doorstep not staying to see if she would like them too. This moment only served to remind him that he wasn't home anymore.

"What now?" thought Fred finding himself lonely and broke in the streets; he had spent the last of his money on those flowers for her.

"I need a job" Fred knew that was the next step, but he felt like a young kid again; he had no idea what the hell he was doing. Fred walked around hopelessly for a long time. He was feeling sorry for himself in all honesty and that was when he found himself in front of the quarry. The place that gave him his start long ago. Looking up at the sign, Fred knew that it could give him his start again. Once he entered the quarry, Fred felt for a moment like he was home again. There was no change. It looked the same as the bedrock he knew and applying himself it was the same as before. He was hired right away. But Barny beat him again. As he was being led to his dinocrane, Fred saw Barny already there across the way, already working his own crane. It was then that Fred realized they were no longer friends, but enemies.

But he didn't let it deter him for long. Barny was a smart fellow. Fred always pretended like he was above him, but the truth was, they were equals. This would be a fair fight and looking across at him, Fred knew the best man would win. And he would be that man. He would work his ass off to make sure of it. That hard work started that very moment for them both. And Gazoo watched them the whole way. He watched as the flowers were delivered, as Fred left his lonely on the doorstep, and now he watched as they went to war. And he both respected and hated him for it.

"You should be working together, dumdums" whispered Gazoo shaking his head this time not letting them see or hear him. But they would learn that on their own. At least, he hoped they would.


End file.
